Engine



E. J. BROWN.

ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 3. I919.

1,319,752. Patented Oct. 28,1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

a: 33 al 24 E. J. BROWN.

ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 31, I919.

1,319,752. Patenmd Oct. 28,1919.

3 SHEET5SHEET 2.

E. 1. BROWN.

ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB- 3. I919.

1,31 9,752. Patented Oct. 28, 1919.

I 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3. .1139. 5.

Jig-4L.

i s ni er edjnto w i A, p:

"UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Specification 0! Letter! Patent.

Patented Oct. 28, 1919.

Application fled February 8, 1819. Serial ll'o. 874,788.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EMMETI J. Bnown, a citizenof the United States of Amemca, residin at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and tate of Michi have invented certain new and usefu Improvements in Engines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This mvention relates to a turbine engme especially designed for air planes, hydro planes, and pro ller driven or pulled crafts, and my invention includes novel structural features that ma be characterized in the following partic ars.

First, the engine includes compactly arranged turbine elements or blades, some of which are carried by a rotor and others b a stator, the rotor being disposed circum erentially of the stator and coupled directly to the propeller adapted to have movement imparted thereto by the engine. The turbine elements or blades areradially disposed relative to the axis of the engine and of such constructive arrangement that the explosive and expansive forces of. fuel and air ma be utilized to the fullest extent.

econd, provision is made for alternately subjecting the turbine elements or blades to the action of fuel and air. The fuel is supplied during the operation of the rotor and when ignited the burned gases impinge against the movable and stationary blades of the engine, the'forces setup by detonation of the fuel used until expendcd or exhausted at atmospheric pressure, thus obviating the necessity of using a mufiler or similar device to dea'dcn the exhaust of the engine, as is a desideratum when an air craftis used for war Third, a novel reci rocatory pump is utilized for forcing and air nto nular c linder formed by the rotor and s ator, esu ply affair 1 i 116M1 0 mini-fitne s sea P r pher nating elements, and with a centrifugal fan which during the operation of the rotor sets air in motion around the stator and thus prevents overheating of the engine due to excessive speed.

Fifth, the weight of the engine is materially reduced compared to ordinary air craft engines by constructing the greater part of the en e of an aluminum comition or a lght and durable material.

e engine may be relied upon to operate for an indefinite riod without, requiring any attention, an the novelconstruction, combination and arrangement of parts employed for accomplishing the above and other results will be he inafter specifically described and then claimed.

Reference will now be had to the drawin whereinigure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an engine in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the same with the pwller'removed;

1g. 3is a cross sectional view taken on the line III-III of 1;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of a nozzle associated with the rotor of the e, and igs. 5, 6 and 7 are detail views of a rotary valve adapted to form part of the Eidescribing my invention by aid of the views above referred to, I desire to point out that the same are intended as merely illustrative of the structural elements by which I may put my invention into ractim, andldonotcaretocon'fine'm tothe exact construction and immigrant of parts shown or hereinafter descri other than defined by the appended claims.

In the dra the reference numeral 1 a stator ell havingyircumfereutial grooves 2i and a concentric 3.

' e se s sh 1 cylinder wall As Wi hfuel, the air'h iitsflflrpanslili 'rfflflp f g .1 at places p s ynscdbc or" i" .Ih'to 1 ltltc t Pflf P m flange 7 rh r mm, if The ea tween cgargeso 3 exception'bf its flange'f, la in "Fonz-t o i y'r v v s-t em"! Q,

I lished sewed l fion 1w as. nan-"1 and between sheils- 'arelradially. disposed heat diseas of are two parallel casings 10 somewhat cylindrical and communicating with each other, said casings being connected to the shell 8 and flange 7 thereof by radially disposed heat disseminating ribs 11.

13 denotes a rotor in parallelism with the shell 1 of the stator, sald rotor having circumferentially disposed ribs 14 extending into the grooves of the stator shell 1. Mounted on the peripheral edges of the rotor 13 is an inclined cylinder wall 15 cooperating with the cylinder wall 4 of the stator shell 1 in providing an annular cylinder that tapers outward y from the rotor toward the eripheral flange 5 in the stator shell 1. T e cylinder wall 15 is of less width than the c linder wall 4: so that there will be an annu ar exhaust passage 16 adjacent the flange 5 and this exhaust passage communicates with the space between the stator shells 1 and 8 through the medium of openings 17 in the cylinder wall 4.

18 denotes a series of turbine elements or blades carried b the cylinder wall 15 of the rotor 13, said blades extending in proximity to the c linder wall 4 and circumferentially isposed around the cy inder wall 15. The blades are preferably arranged in rows and said blades gradually increase in depth toward the exhaust end of the cylinder, as shown in Fig. 1.

19 denotes similar blades or turbine elements carried by the cylinder wall 4 and by reference to Fig. 4 it will be noted that the blades are convexo-concave in cross sec tion and that the blades of the rotor are disused the reverse of the blades of the stator. Plhis arrangement of blades permits of burned gases and air admitted to the inner end of the cylinder impinging against the blades and passing from one set of blades to the other until the burned ases and air finally exhaust at the exaust passage 16 under atmos heric pressure. The shape of the bla es is such that the burned gases and air will be defieeted from one circumferential set of blades to another and since the blades 18 are carried by the rotor and the blades 19 by the stator, these blades can be conveniently referred to hereinafter as movable and stationar blades.

20 denotes eat disseminating ribs on the cylinder wall 15 of the rotor 18 and said rotor supports a fan 21 within the exhaust passage 16, said fan facilitating the exhaust of gases and air from the cylinder and also air utilized for cooling the space between the shells 1 and 8 of the stator, the air being drawn in at the ends of the casing 10, as will hereinafter apfizear.

22 denotes a ho ow hub portion carried by the rotor 18 and braced relative thereto by radially disposed ribs 23 which also asmet in the external cooling of the engine.

eia-rte 24 denotes a collar screwed or otherwise mounted in the hub portion 22 of the rotor and said collar is carried by an engine shaft 25 axially of the rotor and stator. The outer end of the shaft 25 terminates in a hollow spindle 26 and mounted on the hollow spind e 26 and fixed to rotate therewith by a key 27 or similar fastening means is the hub 28 of a propeller 29, said hub being preferably made in two parts to facilitate assembling the blades of the propeller, which blades may be two or more in number and constructed similar to propellers now used in connection with air planes. The hub 28 of the propeller may be connected to the collar 24 of the shaft 25 by a plurality of screw bolts 30 or other suitable fastening means.

31 denotes a plug mounted in the hollow spindle 26 and screwed into this plug is a screw bolt 32 engaging the note 33 of a conical shaped casing 34, said casing inclosing the rotor 13 by extending into proximity of the centrifugal fan 21 carried by said rotor. The casing 34 serves as a hub for the greater portion of the engine, and besides having openings to provide clearance for the blades of the ropeller 29, said casing has a plurality of ventilating openings 35 and spark plug openings 36, as best shown in Fig. 2.

37 denotes a set of pump cylinders having flanges 38 suitably connected at places, indicated by 39, to the ends of the casings 10, said pump cylinders extending into the easings and affording a bearing 40 for the shaft 25. At the inner ends of the pump cylinders 37 is a sleeve 41 abutting the central bearin portion of the stator 1, and in a portion 0 the sleeve 41 and extending into the stator bearing 3 is an anti-frictional ball bearing 42 which supports the engine shaft 25 relative to the stator. 43 is interposed between the engine shaft collar 24 and the bearing 3, between the bearing 3 and the anti-frictional bearing 42, and between the bearing 3 and shaft 25.

44 denotes openings in the flanges 38 of the pump cylmders 37 and said openings communicate with the space between the casings 10 and said pump cylinders. On the pump cylinders within the casings 10 are ribs 45 to assist in cooling the engine and the air admitted by the openings 44 is drawn between the casings 10 and the pump cylinders 37 into the space between the shells 1 and 8 of the stator, the centrifugal fan 21 maintainin the circulation of air for externally cooling the engine and also lacing a supply of air at the sleeve 41 or a purpose that will hereinafter a pear.

45 denotes an annular va ve member mounted on the engine shaft 25 against the inner end of the bearing 40 and within the sleeve 41, said rotary valve member hav- Suitable packing ing' a segment shaped port 46 and a port 47, the latter being adapted to communrcats with a longitudinal port 48 1n the engine shaft 25. The rotary valve member 45 is associated with two other stationary valve members 49 and 50, the former being located between the bearing 42 and the valve member 45, and the latter held about the cylindrical portion of the valve member '45 at the ends of the pump cylinders 37. A stationary valve member 49 has opposed angular ports 51 and 52, the latter adapted to communicate with an opening in the sleeve 41, so as to receive air from between the casings 10 and the pump cylinders 37. The port 51 is adapted to communicate with the end of a manifold or fuel supply pipe 53 extending between the ribs 11 of the stator shell 8 and through the casings 10 and the sleeve 41 so that fuel may be admitted to the port 51. These ports are adapted to have the segment shaped port 46 of the rotary valve member 45 register therewith, and the segment shaped port 46 is also adapted to register with the ports 54 in the stationary valve member 50, said ports communicating with the pump cylinders 37, as shown in Fig. 1. The stationary valve member 50 is ported or recessed, as at 55 so as to establish communication between the pump cylinders 37 and the engine shaft port 48, as shown in Fig. 1.

56 denotes radially disposed tubes extending from the shaft collar 24, where they communicate with the shaft port 48, toward the periphery of the rotor 13, said tubes communicating with tangentially disposed nozzles 57 connected to the rotor, as

est shown in Figs. 2 and 4. The nozzles 57 have restricted portions 58 adapted to increase the pressure of fuel emitted by the nozzles against the movable and stationary blades 18 and 19 within the engine cylinder, and associated with each nozzle is a conventional form of spark plug 59 suitably supported by the nozzles on the rotori Access is had to the spark plug through the opening 36 of the engine casing or hood 34 and sald spark plug has electrical connections 60 extending into the shaft collar 24 through the port 48, and on through the engine shaft 25 which is bored out to accommodate said electrical connections and thus permit of an ignition system being maintained in connection with the spark plugs. On a reduced portion 61 of the shaft 25 may be placed a conventional form of timer or interrupter 62 so that the fuel may be detonated in proper sequence during the operation of the engine.

63 denotes a cam member on the engine shaft 25 and said cam member is provided with a cam roove 64 into which extends anti-frictional rollers 65 carried by guide shoes or semi-circular plates 65 and blocks 66 on the outer ends of piston rods 67, said piston rods extending into the pump cylinders 37 and having the inner ends thereof provided with piston heads 68 reciprocable in said cylinders.

69 denotes a housing suitably connected to the ends of the cylinders 37, said housing inclosing the cam member 63 and roviding opposed slide ways 70 for the bloc 66 and ways 66 for the shoes 65, so that said blocks can only reciprocate during rotation of the cam member 63. In the housing 69 may be placed an anti-frictional bearing 71 for the engine shaft 25, and said housing also supports a transmission casin 72 in proximity to a worm or spiral gear 3 on the reduced grnd (ii of said engine shaft, as shown in 7 4 denotes a conventional form of centrifugal governor mounted on the casing 72 and adapted to be actuated by gearing enerally denoted 75 within the casing 7 2. The governor 74 is connected by leverage devices 76 to the valve 7 7 of fuel supply pipe 78 that extends into the manifold or fuel supply pipe 53 adjacent a throttle 79 within said pipe, which controls the supply of air to said manifold. The pipe 78 is adapted to be connected to a source of fuel under pressure, and coiiperate with the air supply in forming a carbureting device. When the speed of the engine exceeds a certain limit, then the governor 74 is actuated to regulate the valve 77 and reduce the quantity of fuel to the manifold 53.

To place the engine in operation, it may be started by whirling the propeller 29 or any suitable starting device may be employed. When a rotary movement is imparted to the engine shaft 25, the pumps are placed in operation and the construction of the rotary valve is such that while air is being drawn into one pump cylinder, the other pump cylinder is discharging fuel to be ignited in the cylinder of the engine.

It is thought unnecessary to rehearse the path of the fuel and air from the pump cylinders to the engine cylinder, and while in the drawings there is shown an arrangement by which the engine cylinder and pump cylinders are compactl" arranged, it is to be understood that air and fuel, under ressure,

new be supplied to the en 'ne cylin er from a point remote relative t ereto. It is also to be understood that any suitable means may be employed for supporting the engine relative to the fuselage of an air plane or other craft.

What I claim is 1. A turbine engine, comprising a rotor, a propeller fixed relative thereto, a stator cooperating with said rotor in providing an annular cylinder having an annular exhaust passage, alternately disposed sets of blades carried by said rotor and stator, means adapted for alternately supplying fuel and air to said cylinder, and fue ignition means carried by said rotor.

2. An engine as characterized in claim 1 and wherein the cylinder formed by said rotor and stator tapers outwardly to its exhaust passage and said ignition means is located at the inner end of the c linder.

3. An engine as characterize in claim 1, and wherein pumps 0 erated by said engme sup ly'tlie fue an air under pressure to the cy inder.

4. A turbine engine comprlsmg a shaft, an annular cylinder about said shaft having an annular exhaust passage, turbine blades in said cylinder, pumps adapted to alternately supply sai cylinder with fuel and air under pressure, and ignition means in said 0 linder and having its connection throu ll: said shaft.

5. turbine engine as characterized in claim 4, and wherein a portion of said cylinder revolves with said shaft and has a fan to facilitate exhaust from said cvlinder.

6. A turbine en 'ne as characterized in claim 4, and wherein the pumps are parallel with said shaft and include reciprocable pistons actuated by a cam member on said shaft.

7. A turbine engine as characterized in claim .4, and wherein arotary valve about said shaft controls the supply of fuel and air to said pum and the supply of fuel and air from sai pumps to sai cylinder.

8. A turbine e comprising a rotor, a propeller carried y said rotor, a'stator cooperating with said rotor in rovidingan annular cylinder, a shaft axially of said rotor and stator, blades carried'byv said rotor and stator in said cylinder, a pump operated by said shaft to force fuel into sald cylinder against said blades, ignition means carried by said rotor for fuel in said cylinder, and means carried by said rotor adapted to maintain a circulation of air between said rotor and stator.

9. A turbine engine as characterized in claim 8, and wherein another pump is operated in unison with said fuel pum to force air into said cylinder while said e1 pump is receiving a charge of fuel.

10. A turbine engine as characterized in claim 8, and wherein a rotary valve controls the supply of fuel to said pump and from said pump to said cylinder.

11. An engine com rising a shaft, 9. turbine for operating sai shaft, pumps adapted to alternately supply fuel and air to said turbine, and a rotary valve operated by said shaft adapted to control the supply of fuel and air to said turbine.

12. An engine as characterized in claim 11, and wherein the valve is constructively arranged to also control the supply of fuel and air to said pumps.

. 13. An engine as characterizedin claim 11, and wherein the pumps are parallel with said shaft and include reciprocable istons actuated from a cam member on sai shaft.

14. An engine comprising a. shaft, a tur bine for operating said shaft, said turbine having an exhaust passage, means adapted to supply fuel through said shaftto said turbine, ignition means for said fuel movable with said shaft and means operated by said turbine ada ted to cause a circulation of air external 0 said an e and in the exhaust passage of said tur ine.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in the presence of two witn.

EMMETT J. BROWN. Witnesses Lnwrs E. Fnsnnnns, Anna M. Dean. 

